Travelling to North and South America in the world of books

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Are you dreaming of the American continent - the USA, Canada or South America? Would you like to get an insight into another culture while lying on the couch in Sweden, or are you perhaps missing the perfect read for travelling to America?

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Travel to North and South America in the world of books! We present five fiction books that take you to five different countries on the American continent. Do you have any other suggestions for fiction books or memoirs set in North or South America?

Bolivia: El Choco by Markus Lutteman

El choco is not a literary experience. But it is a fascinating journey into a world that is best experienced from a distance. After a failed drug smuggling operation, Jonas Andersson ends up in the notorious San Pedro prison in Bolivia. There are no locks on the cells and no guards. The violent and armed prisoners run their own lives. They run restaurants, take courses in papier maché, engage in drug trafficking and decide who deserves to die, in various brutal ways.

Wives and children sometimes live in the prison, as do the servants of the rich drug lords. If you have the money, you can hire a construction company to renovate your "apartment" and maybe get a jacuzzi. In this brutal and corrupt environment, Jonas ironically starts to put his life in order: he quits drugs, gets married and becomes a father.

Colombia: Even silence has an end by Ingrid Betancourt

I Even silence has an end French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt recounts her six years in the Colombian jungle at the mercy of the FARC guerrillas. This is a story of suffering, but also of how one can develop as a human being even under very scarce conditions. One is fascinated by the young girls and boys of the guerrillas who good-naturedly accept the meagre living conditions assigned to them. These young people are prepared to work hard without complaining, to laugh and dance when the opportunity arises and sometimes to show honest and human goodwill.

But these are also young people who can repeat, often without question, mantras such as "Human rights are a bourgeois concept". FARC is a hierarchical organisation where you have to "apply" for most things and where women have a subordinate role. Often it seems that they themselves stand for the very thing they are fighting against. You are very happy that you don't have to be there for real, but being there through the book provides experiences and insights well worth the time. I was completely hooked!

Canada: CANADA BY RICHARD FORD

I Canada Dell and his twin sister live a rootless life in the US in the 1960s, as their father works on air bases and is occasionally transferred between states. When the father loses his job, he goes into various businesses such as selling cars, property and stolen meat. This increasingly criminal business leads, improbably, to a bank robbery by both of Dell's parents.

When his parents are caught, the whole family is scattered to the wind and Dell ends up with a distant and very eccentric acquaintance of his mother in the Canadian countryside. The story is nicely told from 15-year-old Dell's perspective.

Cuba: Dream heart by Cecilia Samartin

Dream heart  is a moving and beautiful story from Cuba. It follows two cousins, Nora and Alicia, who grow up together in Cuba in the 1950s. They live a sheltered and privileged existence, with the black maid Beba and the Catholic nuns at school. When Castro comes to power, their lives are turned upside down. Nora flees with her family to the United States. Alicia and her family stay behind.

Throughout the years they continue to correspond, with letters from two seemingly different planets. At first, Alicia and her husband are dedicated to communism and believe in the changes, but over time, neighbours begin to betray each other and food runs out. In the end, Nora can't resist travelling back to try to help her cousin. A book that I didn't want to end!

USA: The dream by Harry Bernstein

The dream is a book I can definitely recommend! Bernstein made his writing debut at the age of 95 with the book 'The Invisible Wall'. This is his second novel in which he tells the story of how, at the age of ten, he emigrated with his poor Jewish family from England to the United States.

The new country is hit hard by the Depression and the dream of a better life remains partly a dream. Harry's angelic mother does her best to make life easier while his mean father does everything in his power to make things worse. About how important money is when you don't have it, but even more about how important love and relationships are.

More posts in this series:

• Travel to Africa in the world of books
• Travel to Asia in the world of books
• Travelling through Europe in the world of books

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